Clark County sees dip in traffic-related fatalities in 2014

The streets of Clark County have been just a little bit safer this year.

The number of traffic-related fatalities in Southern Nevada took a small dip, and with just a day left in the year, it’s an encouraging sign after increases each of the last two years, according to Nevada statistics kept by the federal Fatality Analysis Reporting System, or FARS. The federal report is issued once a week on Mondays, and its numbers may not line up with local agencies’.

Fatal crashes — including pedestrians and bicyclists struck by vehicles and car-on-car crashes — county-wide dropped nearly 10 percent year to date, according to the report.

As of Tuesday , there have been 170 traffic-related fatalities in Clark County in 2014, according to the federal report, compared to 188 at the same point last year.

Erin Breen, director of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ Safe Community Partnership, said Metro’s policy to not respond to non-injury accidents, which has been in place since February, has been a key factor in reducing fatalities.

With officers no longer tied up by those types of crashes, they can better enforce traffic laws, and in turn give out more tickets, Breen said.

“People hate tickets, but they have a positive result,” she said. “It changes our behavior for a short while and deters some behaviors.”

Of the four major traffic-policing agencies in the county, the two largest — Las Vegas police and Nevada Highway Patrol — saw a significant drop.

Metro has investigated 92 traffic fatalities, as of Tuesday . At the same point last year, the agency was at 113.

Nevada Highway Patrol’s Southern Command, which covers Clark, Lincoln and Nye counties, saw a drop as well, though not as significant. The department went from 75 fatalities in Clark County in 2013 to 67 this year, according to Trooper Chelsea Stuenkel.

Through the first 10 months of 2014, the numbers looked even better than they do now.

Then Halloween came.

“We had such a horrendous November,” Breen said, “especially for pedestrians.”

Through Oct. 30, pedestrian fatalities sat at 31 in Clark County. But in the two weeks following, 15 pedestrians were killed, Breen said.

“It was like Halloween kicked everything off,” Breen said.

Pedestrian deaths are still down — though only by three — compared to last year’s 53 fatalities.

Vehicle occupant fatalities saw the biggest drop this year, at nearly 20 percent, according to the FARS report. Motorcycle and moped deaths were within two fatalities of last year’s numbers.

Alcohol-related traffic fatalities have dropped by nearly 30 percent, from 55 last year to 39 this year, according to the FARS report.

Still, even with numbers suggesting a slight shift, Breen said things can always be better when it comes to fatalities.

“The biggest thing is to give yourself enough time to get where you’re going,” Breen said. “We have the opportunity to kill fewer people on the roads if people would just start using their brains.”

Contact reporter Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638. Find him on Twitter: @ColtonLochhead